Apparatus for breaking scale from rod

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for bending a strand of rod to crack and loosen surface scale having two rotatable breaker sheaves around which the rod is bent. The breaker sheaves are aligned with their planes of rotation at right angles to each other so that the strand is bent in two perpendicular planes to optimize scale cracking and loosening. A lifting mechanism is provided to lift the breaker sheaves away from their normal operating position to facilitate stringup.

United States Patent Inventors James R. Stoeckel Shaler Township, Allegheny County; Charles D. Stricker, Monroeville Borough, both of, Pa.

Appl. No. 796,803

Filed Feb. 5, 1969 Patented Sept. 14, 1971 Assignee United States Steel Corporation APPARATUS FOR BREAKING SCALE FROM ROD 1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl

226/90, 226/91 lnt. Cl B2lc 43/04 Fleld Search 29/81 A, 81

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,730,791 1/ I956 Carlson et al 29/81 2,937,431 5/1960 Bongiovanni 29/81 FOREIGN PATENTS 541,932 5/1922 France 29/8 I Primary Examiner-Walter A. Scheel Assistant Examiner-Le0n G. Machlin Attorney-Forest C. Sexton ABSTRACT: An apparatus for bending a strand of rod to crack and loosen surface scale having two rotatable breaker sheaves around which the rod is bent. The breaker sheaves are aligned with their planes of rotation at right angles to each other so that the strand is bent in two perpendicular planes to optimize scale cracking and loosening. A lifting mechanism is provided to lift the breaker sheaves away from their nonnal operating position to facilitate stringup.

pmaminswmn 3504.085

SHEET 1 OF 3 INVENTORS JAMES R. .STOECKEL 8 CHARLES D. STRICKEI? 1 v BMW 4. M

Attorney I PATENTEDsEPMIQII 3,604,085

SHEET 2 OF 3 TEE INVENTOR JAMES R. STOECKE'L 8 CHARL [S D. STR/C/(ER Attorney i ATENTEDsEH 4 an SHEET 3 OF 3 8R 4m mm 3% S T n KS0 m wsm NM.A lAH Jay w Attorney APPARATUS FOR BREAKINGSCALE FROM ROD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a scale-breaking apparatus for use in the manufacture of steel wire. More specifically this invention relates to a reverse bend scale-breaking apparatus for processing a strand of rod which has an adjustable mounting that simplifies stringup during operation and facilitates the utilization of a close-spaced plurality of such scale breakers in a multistrand wire processing operation.

The manufacture of steel wire usually involves the hot rolling of steel billets into elongated rods, and then cleaning the rod of all surface scale and cold drawing it through one or more dies until a final diameter is obtained. Although the most common way of removing the surface scale is by pickling the rod in an acid solution, mechanical scale breakers have been advantageously used in that the expensive pickling solutions and tanks are eliminated. See for example US. Pat. No. 2,730,791, Carlson et al., Jan. 17, 1956. I

In mechanical scale breakers, the coils of rod are not descaled in mass, but rather the strands are continuously descaled in-line by pulling the strand around rotating breaker sheaves which crack and loosen the surface scale. If required, the strands may then be advanced through a conventional electrolytic cleaning solution before being drawn through the dies.

When mechanical descaling techniques have been incorporated into multistrand operations, certain difficulties have been encountered, especially if close spacing of the strands is maintained. The most common problem being that because of the close proximity of all moving strands, the operator must stop all strands in order to string up or service any one scale breaker. That is, the adjacent scale-breaking units are either so closely spaced that it is difficult and dangerous to restring or service any one unit without stopping all strands, or else the scale-breaking units must be so widely spaced apart that excessive floor space is wasted and the number of possible strands is minimized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION a bend scale-breaking apparatus for rod having an adjustable mounting combined with suitable sheave guards so that any one of a plurality scale breakers in a closely spaced relationship may be easily raised and safely restrung and serviced without stopping the strands passing through the other scale breakers.

It is another primary object of this invention to provide a scale breaker for rod having an adjustable mounting which will greatly simplify stringup.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a scale breaker for rod which is better suited to close spacing.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a generally improved scale breaker for use in wire-drawing operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevation illustrating one embodiment of the scale-breaking apparatus of our invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view, in partial section, of the scale breaker shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the scale breaker shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the scale breaker in the raised or stringup position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V of FIGS. 1, 2 and 4; and

FIG. 6 is atop view illustration showing five scale breakers on a single support for closely spaced multistrand operations.

2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a hollow cylindrical housing 10 is transversely secured to a support plate 11. The housing 10 is maintained in a vertical position between a pair of parallel support beams 12 by securing the support plate 11 to said parallel beams 12 by any means such as nuts and bolts 13. A cylindrical lifting shaft I5 having a rack 16 secured along the side thereof is slidably fitted within the hollow cylindrical housing 10. The rack 16 mates with a pinion gear 17 (FIG. 5) which can be activated by turning pinion shaft 18 secured through the side of the cylindrical housing 10. Hence, a removable crank handle (not shown) may be fitted onto the pinion shaft 18 and rotated to raise or lower lifting shaft 15 within housing 10. In order that the pinion shaft 18 be readily accessible it is preferred that pinion shaft 18 and accordingly the lower portions of cylindrical housing 10 and lifting shaft 15 be suspended below the lowermost edges of parallel beams 12. The upward motion of lifting shaft 15 is limited by stop block 19 bolted or otherwise secured to the lower surface of lifting shaft 15. Similarly, the

.downward motion of lifting shaft 15 is limited'by load block 20 vsecured to the upper surface of lifting shaft 15. In normal operating position, lifting shaft 15 is in its most downward position with load block 20 resting against the upper end of eylindrical housing 10.

With safety considerations in mind, it is preferable that some sort of locking means be employed to lock-lifting shaft 15 in its two extremity positions. For example, a spring-loaded latch pin 25 may be secured through the side of one of the beams 12 which will penetrate through an opening 26 in the side of cylindrical housing 10 to engage one of two radial holes 27 in shaft 15.

The actual scale-breaking function is effected by a pair of perpendicularly disposed rotatable breaker sheaves 30 and 40. The first, or vertical breaker sheave 30 is rotatably secured to a cantilever support arm 32 with its axis horizontal to and somewhat forward of the vertical axis of the lifting shaft IS. The support arm 32 is rigidly secured only to the load block 20. The horizontal breaker sheave 40 is rotatably secured to the upper surface' of load block 20 with the axis thereof substantially coincident with the axis of lifting shaft 15. Vertical breaker sheave 30 must be sufficiently forward of, and to one side of, breaker sheave 40 so that a strand will effectively feed from vertical breaker sheave 3010 horizontal breaker sheave 40. Since both breaker sheaves 30 and 40 are supported only by load block 20, both sheaves will of course be raised and lowered with load block 20 when lifting shaft 15 is activated by cranking pinion shaft 18.

In order to prevent dangerous and damaging whiplash in the event of runout of a broken strand, suitable sheave guards should be provided. In the embodiment shown, a vertical sheave guard comprises a plurality of guard pins 34 supported by a guard plate 35 behind vertical breaker sheave 30. Since guard plate 35 is rigidly secured to cantilever support arm 32, the entire sheave guard 34-35 will be raised and lowered along with the breaker sheaves 30 and 40. A horizontal sheave guard comprises a semicircular plate 42 held immediately behind horizontal breaker sheave 40 by at least one support brace 43. The support brace or braces 43 are secured at the I lower end only to the cylindrical housing I0. Hence, when lifting shaft 15 is raised, horizontal sheave guard 42-43 remains stationary so that the raised horizontal breaker sheave 40 readily clears the sheave guard 42-43 for easy stringup.

In order to prevent the incoming strand from whipping out of the first or vertical breaker sheave 30, a guide sheave 50 is rotatably secured to the side of cylindrical housing 10. Since the guide sheave 50 serves to keep the incoming strand aligned with the first breaker sheave 30, it is apparent that the upper riding surface of guide sheave 50 should be tangently aligned with the lower riding surface of vertical breaker sheave 30. Since guide sheave 50 is secured to hollow cylindrical housing 10, it remains stationary when the breaker sheaves 30 and 40 are raised, thus facilitating stringup of a rod between sheaves 50 and 30.

Another safety feature is strand exit guard 55 which serves to confine the strand after it leaves the breaker sheave 40. The exit guard 55 comprises an inverted U-shaped metal cover 56 secured to the end of a swivel bar 57. Swivel bar 57 is pivotally secured to a support structure 58 which is bolted across parallel beams 12. A finger loop 59 is also provided at the end of pivot bar 57 so that the exit guard 55 may be easily pivoted upward to facilitate stringup. FIG. 4 shows the exit guard 55 pivoted to its upward or open position. In its downward or closed position, pivot bar 57 and the open portion of U-shaped metal cover 56 rest against a vertical plate 60 so that the strand is completely confined within the U-shaped cover 56.

To commence operation of the above described scale breaker, the rod strand R must first be strung up through the breaker. This is done by cranking pinion shaft 18 to raise lifting shaft 15, thus raising the breaker sheaves 30 and 40 to the stringup position. In addition, exit guard 55 must be pivoted to the open position. FIG. 4 illustrates the scale breaker in the stringup position as effected by the above preparation. The strand of rod is then advanced over the top of guide sheave 50 and bent clockwise around the forward side of vertical breaker sheave 30. The strand is then brought back and bent counterclockwise around the rear side of horizontal breaker sheave 40, and advanced over vertical plate 60 to the next operation. At the end of the line, the strand is secured to a reel or some other device which will pull the strand through the scale breaker and any other intermediate processing devices such as cleaning solutions and wire-drawing dies.

After the strand is strung up as described above, breaker sheaves 30 and 40 are lowered and exit guard 55 is pivoted to the closed position shown in FIG. 1. When the line is activated, the strand is pulled through the scale breaker and given a reverse bend which is sufficient to crack and loosen the surface scale. Specifically, the strand is first bent vertically as it is pulled around vertical sheave 30, and then bent horizontally as it is pulled around horizontal sheave 40.

To insure optimum scale cracking, the two bending or flexing planes imposed on the strand should be at right angles to each other. Therefore, it is preferred that the two breaker sheaves 30 and 40 be as closely spaced as possible thus minimizing any twisting of the strand between sheaves. Scale cracking is further optimized if the diameter of the breaker sheaves is between and 22 times the diameter of the rod. At ratios greater than 22:l the scale is not sufficiently cracked and loosened around the strand periphery. At ratios less than 15:1 the strand is excessively strained and its physical properties obviously effected.

One of the prime advantages of the above described scale breaker is that the raisable breaker sheaves make it easier to string up. This is readily apparent because the vertical breaker sheave 30 moves upward to provide more clearance over guide sheave 50; and because horizontal breaker sheave 40 moves up and away from the closely fitted sheave guard 42-43. Since horizontal breaker sheave 40 can be raised relative to sheave guard 42-43, this not only makes stringup easier but provides an added safety feature because the tolerance between the guard and sheave in the operating position can be made very close. That is, clearance for stringup purposes need not be provided as in the case of prior art breakers wherein sheave and guard are both stationary. Therefore, if a strand breaks in the unit, the slack end will be locked between breaker sheave 40 and guard 42-43 thus preventing a longlength whiplash.

As already noted, the fact that the breaker sheaves can be raised for stringup also facilitates the utilization of a plurality of such units in a multistrand operation.

FIG. 6 illustrates a closely spaced five-strand line utilizing five scale breakers on a single support. Since the spacing between strands R R R R and R is less than the width of the individual scale-breaking units, the units are not side by side, but rather are aligned in the direction of the strand, one offset from the next by a distance equal to the spacing between strands. As shown in the drawing, several exit guards 55 may be employed for each strand along the length of the scale breaker support bench. it is apparent that, if the scalebreaking units were fixed without having movable breaker sheaves, it would be difficult and dangerous to string up any one strand while the others are moving. The scale-breaking unit of this invention can, however, be adjusted to raise the breaker sheaves away from their normal operating position so that stringup of any one unit can be easily and safely done without stopping the other strands.

It is apparent that various modifications and different embodiments of the above described scale breaker could be made without departing from the novel concepts of this invention. For example, the breaker sheaves 30 and 40 need not be placed in the order shown. Hence, the horizontal breaker sheave could be the first encountered by the strand. in addition, the breaker sheaves need not be oriented vertically and horizontally so long as they lie in planes which are at right angles to each other. In other examples, more than two breaker sheaves could be employed if for any reason than a double bend were necessary to loosen the surface scale. Typical examples would be wherein three breaker sheaves would bend the strand in three planes l20from each other, or wherein four sheaves would give a double reverse bend, both directions in one plane and both directions in the perpendicular plane. The means for lifting the sheaves could be hydraulically or electrically operated as well as manual. Obviously, therefore, other modifications could be made.

We claim:

1. A scale-breaking apparatus for cracking and loosening surface scale on a rod comprising a housing, an adjusting support member movably secured to said housing, a plurality of rotatable breaker sheaves secured to said support member around which said rod passes, and actuating means for moving said adjusting support member and said breaker sheaves to a position away from their normal operating position to facilitate stringup of said rod, a semicircular sheave guard rigidly secured to said housing and closely surrounding one of said breaker sheaves so that said sheave guard will remain stationary when said breaker sheaves are moved from their normal operating position. 

1. A scale-breaking apparatus for cracking and loosening surface scale on a rod comprising a housing, an adjusting support member movably secured to said housing, a plurality of rotatable breaker sheaves secured to said support member around which said rod passes, and actuating means for moving said adjusting support member and said breaker sheaves to a position away from their normal operating position to facilitate stringup of said rod, a semicircular sheave guard rigidly secured to said housing and closely surrounding one of said breaker sheaves so that said sheave guard will remain stationary when said breaker sheaves are moved from their normal operating position. 